Mohammad Asif Hossain Khan ( bn, আসিফ হোসেন খান) is a Bangladeshi

shooter Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, Bow and arrow, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or Blowgun, blowpipe). Even the acts of launching Flamethrower, flame, artillery, Dart (missile), darts, ha ...

. He won the gold medal at

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...

in 10 m Air Rifle and repeated his success in the 2004

SAF games The South Asian Games (SAG or SA Games), formerly known as the South Asian Federation Games (SAFG or SAF Games), is a quadrennial multi-sport event held among the athletes from South Asia. The governing body of these games is South Asia Olympic C ...

by winning gold in the same event. On October 2, 2006 he was brutally beaten by the local police of

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

, injuring both of his arms. His son, Mashrur, currently resides in Costa Rica with wife Natalie.

Early career

Khan started his shooting career at

Pabna Pabna ( bn, পাবনা) is a city of Pabna District, Bangladesh and the administrative capital of the eponymous Pabna District. It is on the north bank of the Padma River and has a population of about . Etymology * According to the histo ...

Shooting Club. Although he preferred athletics to shooting, he snatched inter-club shooting championship in 1999 and 2000. Still an athletics fanatic, Khan entered the athletics training programme of

Bangladesh Krira Shiksha Pratisthan Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan (BKSP) ( bn, বাংলাদেশ ক্রীড়া শিক্ষা প্রতিষ্ঠান, Bangladesh Institute of Sports Education) is the national sports institute of Bangladesh. It is res ...

(BKSP), the national sports institute of

. But his career plans changed when his coach asked him to join the newly organized shooting team of BKSP. Khan agreed to his coach's proposal more as a responsibility than interest. Later, he insisted that his coaches at BKSP helped him to build his winning mentality. Khan took part in the 2002 Bangladesh Games and achieved a bronze medal. His success was then spotted by the national scouts and he was called at the camp of that year's Commonwealth Games. Khan was surprised for his calling at the camp and found it even tougher there. But he attracted everyone with his talent and hard labor and was selected for the national team.

Career

Commonwealth success

Khan took part in the 10 m Air rifle individual event in the

at the age of 15. He performed well and found himself fifth before the last shot. At that moment he thought a good shot could earn him a fourth-place finish. He said,"..if I could make a good I would probably end up fourth. The bronze was a possibility but slightly unlike". His final shot scored 9.9, with a total of 691.9, and he won the gold medal.

Later performances

After the Commonwealth Games he took part in the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

. Though he got a disappointing 12th-place finish he scored more points than his Commonwealth win. In 2003 he performed respectably in the 2003 World Cup in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. In 2004 he became the first Bangladeshi to take part in shooting at the Olympics. Even though he finished 35th, he considered the event as his highest honour. In 2005 Asian Championship he registered his highest ever total score that earned him a bronze medal finish.

Recent performances

Although Khan got pairs silver with Anjan in

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

, he lost his individual gold that he had achieved four years earlier. He only scored 586 in the qualification round and 103.2 in the shoot up to be placed 5th. He also lost his medal in the 2006 SAF games to Indian shooters. He was also beaten by compatriot Imam Hossain and finished fourth. Khan is known for his trademark shoot up, but performed poorly in this event. In the Colombo SAF Games, two of his shoot up scores were under ten with a highest of 10.7 where he used to reach 10.8 three to four times. About his poor shoot up performances he said,"I don't quite enjoy it these days. A fear works in my mind. He also thinks the pressure of expectation may be the reason for this and expect to overcome this soon.

Police incident with Asif Hossain Khan and his friends

On October 2, 2006, after an incident between police and shooting federation staff, police broke into the federation premises and assaulted several shooters including Khan. Khan and his fellow shooters were preparing for the

2006 Asian Games 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

to be held at

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

on November 2006. An altercation occurred between a police chauffeur and a federation guard regarding the parking of a car. Following this, police came to the spot and, according to witnesses, beat "whoever they found". Police beat Khan in multiple places and severely injured his left arm and leg. Khan said, "We, in fact, tried to stop the brawl but police would not listen to us". He also tried to protect himself by asserting his identity and success to his attackers. However, the police appeared to intensify their violence after this revelation. He, along with four other shooters and staff, were taken to the police station and beaten again. They were later sent to court by the police. Khan was granted bail from the court and was admitted to hospital. Doctors suggested that his arm muscles were badly injured and would take time to recover. His leg was also injured seriously and doctors were uncertain of when he would be able to practice again. Khan's mental and emotional trauma was also apparent as he claimed he would give up shooting. He even pondered he would give his Commonwealth Games gold medal back to the authority.

2008 South Asian Shooting Championship

On November 22, 2008, Khan won two gold medals on the opening day of 4th South Asian Shooting Championship in

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. He first won the individual gold in 10m Air Rifle event scoring 694.3 points, and then won the team event under the same category with shooters Saiful Islam and Imam Hossain. In the individual gold, Khan bettered his previous best score of 691 points.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Asif Hossain Living people Bangladeshi male sport shooters ISSF rifle shooters Olympic shooters for Bangladesh Shooters at the 2004 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Bangladesh Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Bangladesh Shooters at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Shooters at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Shooters at the 2002 Asian Games Shooters at the 2006 Asian Games Shooters at the 2010 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for Bangladesh Commonwealth Games medallists in shooting Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Bangladesh Recipients of the Bangladesh National Sports Award Year of birth missing (living people) South Asian Games gold medalists for Bangladesh South Asian Games medalists in shooting Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Place of birth missing (living people)